Leapfrogging is only so good. Africa needs to make things.

Africans remain consumers of technologies invented elsewhere, not their creators.

A textile factory in Lesotho. Credit: John Hogg.

Investment in infrastructure can have a uniquely transformative power for Africa. Addressing the huge funding gap – estimated at almost $100 billion per year – by building roads, power, water, sanitation and the like will drive industrial development and create much-needed jobs.

Industrial development is still a critical step in Africa’s socioeconomic development. In a recent paper for The Breakthrough journal, Harvard Kennedy School’s Calestous Juma makes the case that “leapfrogging industrial development is not an option”. We agree. Indeed, many of the innovations we celebrate in Africa today reveal not just the continent’s entrepreneurial drive, but governments’ failures to get some basics right.

Mobile phone usage, for example, has soared faster in Africa than anywhere in the world. According to the Pew Research Centre, mobile phone penetration in Ghana rose from just 8% in 2002 to 128% today. Over the same period in the US, penetrations levels rose from 64% to 103%. But this increased rate of adoption stems in no small part from governments’ failures to build landline networks; people had to take matters into their own hands.

Mobile telephony isn’t the only example of this. Rooftop solar power is taking off less for environmental concerns and more for the lack of robust electricity grids. Citizens dig boreholes or install water tanks at home because they can’t depend on pipe-borne water. Drones may be the future of medical supply delivery because road networks are poor.

However, as corporate and private solutions fill gaps left by the government, the continent may be missing out on the bigger picture of economic transformation. The “leapfrogging” of landlines in favour of mobile phones is hailed as a great success in Africa. But it’s crucial to note that mobile telephony’s growth in Africa has less to do with innovation on the continent and more to do with inventions and innovations elsewhere.

The same is true of many consumer goods such as fridges, flat screen TVs, computers and a host of other electricals and electronics, mostly from China. Africans remain consumers of technology, even if the way in which new technologies are used sometimes gives an inaccurate impression that Africans are creating them.

Furthermore, as Africa’s economies become service-heavy, the continent may be missing out on the grit and organisational skills that come from making things. To build a Boeing 747 and all its six million parts or a smartphone from scratch tasks a country in ways that developing six million smartphone apps from existing code never can.

In his paper, Juma argues that despite its adoption of new technologies, Africa still lags behind in manufacturing and has not made major steps to move to the production of technologies. With a view to economic history, he says that Africa should invest in core infrastructure and engineering capabilities that would enable it to meet the needs of other sectors such as health, education, and agriculture.

Additionally, the ability to manufacture smartphones would ensure that the money spent on them remains within the continent. The role of infrastructure as the foundation for innovation and economic transformation has been overlooked, Juma laments.

Infrastructure and capacity development projects can have a transformative impact on the continent. But a critical step in the process on ensuring long-term value is to optimise local content in such investments – from inception to operation.

One such example is the Bridge Power project in Ghana. This billion-dollar, 400-megawatt power plant is a joint venture between Endeavor Energy and GE Power, both from the United States, and Sage Petroleum from Ghana. Sage is part of the Quantum Group, which has developed its capacity in part through international partnerships and is the technical lead in some aspects of Bridge Power. The Ghanaian company will no doubt absorb new skills and technologies from its foreign partners through the project.

Local content policies must be bold in their vision, but also progressive in their implementation. It takes time to build companies to the standards expected by serious multinationals. CDC, the UK Government’s development finance institution, runs a training programme to inform emerging market fund managers and indigenous companies on what good international outcomes look like from an environmental and social perspective. By equipping companies and investors with tools and an understanding of what success might entail, they can then find locally-appropriate solutions that work to these objectives. It also behooves governments to set clear, realistic milestones that allow projects to be completed on schedule while increasing local participation.

Africa’s dream of industrialisation is alive, well, and achievable. New technologies are a stepping stone but not the destination. To get to the destination, governments must create attractive environments, schools have to impart the right knowledge and skills, and businesses need to orient themselves to long-term value creation.

Rosalind Kainyah MBE is an advisor to global companies on responsible business investment and partnerships in Africa. She is a former environmental lawyer, corporate lawyer at Linklaters, and corporate/commercial lawyer at De Beers. She was VP of External Affairs and CSR at Tullow Oil. She started Kina Advisory in 2014.

2 comments

comrades personally I believe we should encourage African youth to act on creating a technology industry in Africa plus direct them toward what would serve our best interest now plus in future. In addition, we should emphasize their greatest advantage lies in they are of position to create much less costly but equal in ability technology for African market. Correct products plus capable production could instantaneously make them rich. Mature adults should help youth discern what is essential in producing their products plus finance plus assist in marketing worthy African designed plus built technology products. We desperately need to feature our products are not only as capable as foreign products in same market but they are much less costly. In short our products need to be “total package” in which we are able to sell to governments plus households. Very much sincere, Henry Price Jr. aka Obediah Buntu IL-Khan aka Kankan aka Gue.

True indeed we are only oiling and advancing other people’s system to the continued deterioration of of beloved African continent. As Africans I believe we have to be our own selves setting and following our own civilisations that will make us global powerhouses. This should start from our own values, education, technologies, policies and even economic models and systems. We should learn from history and other nations that have managed to dust themselves up and be counted among others. For instance China has managed to bring about shockwaves in the world economic order by establishing itself as a new global powerhouse. Their uprising was pinned upon certain values which were espoused by their leaders of old and perpetually passed on to successive generations albeit some modifications to create and maintain a competitive advantage over other systems. They managed to achieve so much exploits by being true to themselves and remaining focused to their underlying values and principles regardless of criticisms and approvals that might lead to straying from the envisaged path. This they achieved by deliberately and carefully electing leaders with a strong heart and supporting their cause.
This lead to having almost every product that you can think of coming with the ascription ‘made in China’ In so doing China managed to ride over new technologies on their own strengths and advantages reaping fruit at every stage of the value chain. They have managed to attract investments, strengthening their economy, constructing their infrastructure, employing their own thus inducing demand for all their products before exporting, until they become proponents of new technologies themselves. In all these developments there are certain qualities that have been driving this Dragon force chief among them; strong leadership resolve, unity of purpose from all circles, patience, generational continuity as detailed in the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party held in October. The rise of China is following a well laid down script designed to that effect. On the other hand Africa is viewed as one bloc (on paper only) and yet made up of various divergent nations with diverse backgrounds, values and aspirations which makes it a pipe dream to move and challenge the other global forces. In this present set-up you can never have a united Africa pulling in one direction. Some of the continent’s leaders have allowed themselves to be dominated by the Western powers and of late the Chinese Dragon due to historical reasons and also economic dependence from the former colonial masters thereby validating the old adage ‘the hand that gives rules.’ By allowing meddling by external powers in its economic and political affairs Africa has created an identity crisis and undermined her own civilisation and growth trajectories. The established West will always be the pacesetter and Africa is always following and dancing to their tune. They set the standards of the game and the measures thereof, and call everyone else to come and play. Ultimately it’s a lost battle before it has even started since it will lead to predesigned outcomes.
In a nutshell for Africa to progress and benefit from the new technologies and the resultant growth we should be united towards one thing. Secondly we should become our own masters and be committed to our plans and devise proper mechanisms to pass on and empower successive generations. Our education should be tailor made for our continent based on our own aspirations and civilisation rather than becoming great intellectuals in blindly adopted curricular.

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